


In the Blink of an Eye

by DizzyDrea



Category: White Collar
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-05
Updated: 2012-02-05
Packaged: 2017-11-05 02:22:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/401398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyDrea/pseuds/DizzyDrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the blink of an eye, everything that they thought they knew about each other changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Blink of an Eye

**Author's Note:**

> I've been toying with writing a Djinn story for a while, but I couldn't seem to find a fandom where it would fit. Then I started to watch WC and found that Neal made the perfect Djinni. This was my first White Collar story, and it's still my favorite. It started life as two separate drabbles, but that felt too restricting, so I rewrote them both, connecting them into one whole story, which I think works much better.
> 
> Originally posted on LiveJournal.
> 
> Disclaimer: White Collar is the property of Jeff Eastin, Fox Television Studios, USA Networks, and a lot of other people who aren't me. I do this for fun and for practice. Mostly for fun.

~o~ 

Neal can see it: the future unfolding in the blink of an eye. He knows that Elizabeth will be shot, can see her crumple to the ground, the blood pool spreading out beneath her still body, and the grief of a moment not yet remembered is tearing at him, buffeting his heart with painful lashes. 

He can feel his power gathering, coiling just beneath the surface, ready to strike and stop this evil before it has the chance to be born. But he can't release it, no matter how much he may want to. The electronic tracking anklet he wears interferes with his very nature, leaving him crying out in anguish that he's unable to stop this moment from happening. 

He turns pain-filled eyes on Peter, begging to be released from his bonds. 

"Please," he whispers. He knows they'd both be lost without her, and he can't bear to let that happen. Not today. Not when it's within his power to prevent it. "Let me go. Let me help her." 

Somehow, Peter understands what he's asking and cuts the band. 

Without warning, Neal's full power is unleashed. He transforms in a heartbeat; smoke without flame, fire without heat, a conflagration that consumes but does not destroy, descending on the unsuspecting gunman with a feral vengeance the likes of which mere mortals have never seen. 

When it's over, the gunman is unconscious, his gun lying forgotten by his side. Neal returns to his human form as he collapses, barely registering Peter's strong arms as they bear his weight, or Elizabeth's soft cooing as she smoothes his hair away from his face. 

He knows there'll be questions later. Peter and El are too smart not to have understood what they've seen, but those are worries for later. Right now, he can no longer resist the pull of oblivion. And he knows his friends will protect him just as he's protected them, even if it's only for a little while. 

~o~ 

"A genie?" Peter asks, because really, what else can you say when your friend has just announced something so impossible as to be laughable. Except Neal's not laughing. 

Instead, a look of indignation crosses his face. "Djinni, Peter." 

He can see Elizabeth, curled into Neal's side on the bed, valiantly attempting to suppress a laugh, and he knows it's not due to Neal's pronouncement. 

Peter leans back in the chair he's pulled up by the bed. "Why aren't you blue?" 

Neal rolls his eyes. "If he weren't already dead, I'd kill Walt Disney myself." He sighs dramatically, then pushes up against the headboard, Elizabeth simply adjusting so she can remain cuddled into his side. "The Djinn are spirit beings that can take human form when we choose. Our natural state is somewhat more…ephemeral." 

"What we saw at the warehouse today," Elizabeth says quietly, looking up at him with wide eyes. 

"Yeah," Neal says, smiling. 

"So, when do I get my three wishes?" Peter asks, and he knows he's pushing another button, but it's so good to see Neal awake— _alive_ —that he doesn't care. He'd been so still in the aftermath of whatever the hell that had been that he'd been afraid they'd lost him for good. 

"That's pure myth, Peter," Neal says, and it's clear he's trying not to strangle his friend. 

Peter chuckles. "Okay, I get it. What we think we know about genies—" he breaks off at Neal's scowl "—Djinni is somewhat inaccurate." 

"That's putting it mildly," Neal says, huffing out a sigh. "We're not so different from humans, actually. We belong to clans, form friendships." He pauses. "Most Djinni are troublemakers, though; con men and thieves. It's in our nature." 

"No surprise there," Peter says, smirking. 

"The few who aren't are considered black sheep," Neal says, ignoring Peter's remark. "They're usually in law enforcement. It's what makes them good at chasing us down." 

Peter eyes his friend critically in light of this new information. He leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "You let me catch you. Didn't you?" 

Neal looks away, then meets Peter's eyes as Elizabeth laces their fingers together, offering her quiet support. 

"You impressed me, Peter. There aren't many humans that can track down a Djinni. You earned it." 

"But prison," Elizabeth says, worried. "You didn't break out of there, either." 

"I couldn’t," Neal says, glancing at Peter. 

Peter leans back, shocked at what he's just heard. "You gave up your freedom for me." 

Neal inclines his head, an acknowledgement of a battle well fought, an opponent well met. 

"Will we ever get to see you again?" Elizabeth asks when the silence stretches. "I mean, see what you really are?" 

Neal smiles. "One day, perhaps. I'd like to share my essence with you, both of you." 

"What's it like?" she asks, looking up at him. 

"I wish I could describe it to you, El," Neal says quietly, brushing his fingertips over her cheek. "There really isn't a human equivalent. It's like…knowing and being known so deeply that you can see the other person's very soul." 

"And you want to share that with us?" she asks, amazed. 

"Yes, I do," he says, smiling gently. He glances at Peter. "But the anklet prevents me from transforming." 

Elizabeth looks at Peter, and he can see it in her eyes: she wants to ask if they really have to put the anklet back on, but she doesn't. They both know that the Marshalls will send Neal back to jail if they don't replace it. So, instead he endures another kind of prison. For them. 

"Can you do it now?" he finds himself asking. "Share with us before I have to replace it?" 

"No," Neal says, and there's a sadness in his eyes that wasn't there before. "What I did today, it takes a tremendous amount of strength. I'm too weak right now. If I tried..." 

Elizabeth covers her mouth with her hand, a small gasp escaping her lips. Peter doesn't need to hear the words to know what Neal is saying. 

"Then we'll wait," he says, and his words are a promise. "We're not going anywhere." 

Neal smiles at him and sinks back into the bed. Peter lifts an eyebrow, and Neal shakes his head. "I'm not going anywhere, either." 

"Is this what's keeping you here?" Peter asks, holding up the damaged anklet. He has to ask, even though he doesn't want to, even though he thinks he knows the answer already. 

"No, Peter," Neal says, eyes shining. "You and Elizabeth do." 

~Finis


End file.
